Joe Paterno died today.

I don't usually comment on people dying (or, at least I think I don't... I like to at least say that I don't), but this death strikes me as really sad.

Not that it's the biggest surprise in the world (as soon as he was relieved of his duties, I thought we'd have something similar to Charles Schulz, who died the very day his last comic strip was published), and he had a long, full life. And I know that a lot of people probably aren't ready to forget everything and remember him as a great man, and I can understand why.

But Joe Paterno was a human being. By a lot of accounts a pretty decent human being. And in the last two months of his life he was considered a villain, for actions (or inaction, perhaps) that I'm pretty sure that--put in the exact same situation--quite a lot of people would have handled the same.

I don't know. I don't want it make it seem as if he's the victim in all this, but I don't believe a relatively decent human being should pass on as a bad guy without some form of redemption. That's about all.